Kennedy, Bielat win 4th Congressional primaries

The race to replace Rep. Barney Frank is coming more into focus as Sean Bielat and Joe Kennedy III are leading their party primaries.

Bielat is beating out Republicans Elizabeth Childs and David Steinhof with 73 percent of the vote, according to our news partners at WCBV, with 76 percent of precincts reporting.

WCBV has called the race for Kennedy.

Phil Salisbury

The race to replace Rep. Barney Frank is set as Joe Kennedy III and Sean Bielat have won the party primaries.

Bielat is beating out Republicans Elizabeth Childs and David Steinhof with 73 percent of the vote, according to our news partners at WCBV, with 76 percent of precincts reporting.

WCBV has called the race for Kennedy.

Bielat will square off against Democrat Joe Kennedy III, who has a commanding 92 percent of the party primary vote, in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Frank, D-Newton, announced in November 2011 he would retire after serving out his 16th term in Congress.

Childs and Steinhof have 15 and 12 percent in the primary, respectively.

After a feisty primary including an incident in which Bielat and Childs argued after an NECN debate, Childs was much more conciliatory in defeat.

“I went into this race with a clear objective to bring Republicans, Democrats and Independents together to solve our nations economic problems, and it's a message that I will continue to fight for if we are going to get American working again," Childs said in a conciliatory press release. "I think this race has shown that a hard-fought primary where different viewpoints can be heard is healthy for both democracy and the Republican party."

Bielat has attacked Kennedy in the primary for not exposing his views.

“Now, I’m running against someone without much of a resume,” said Bielat in an Aug. 10 editorial board meeting with WickedLocal.com editors and reporters. “I think it’s important to push his views rather than just rely on a superficial name.”

“People understand that they’ve got a long way to rebuild themselves back up,” Kennedy said in an Aug. 10 editorial board meeting. “They’re frustrated with the system. They are asking for an opportunity to earn it once again. They just want a real shot. They aren’t asking for a handout.”

One of the reasons Frank cited for his retirement was the redrawing of the district as a result of the 2010 census. The 4th district skews more conservative now, losing cities and towns including New Bedford, Wareham, and Middleboro and gaining areas like Wrentham, Medway, and Attleboro.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, 727,524 people lived in the redrawn district as of the 2010 census. For the maps drawn in 2003, the average congressional district nation wide was 650,000.